Friday, December 22, 2023

Salish Sea News Week in Review December 22 2023

 


Aloha Winter Solstice Friday!
The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere. In reality, the Oak King has defeated the Holly King, bringing light, renewal and growth.

Washington lags behind in water-pollution oversight
The GAO report found that the Washington State Department of Ecology, the agency responsible for submitting the lists, has been missing deadlines for a decade.

Trans Mountain warns regulator of potential ‘catastrophic’ two-year pipeline delay
The company building the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is warning the project’s completion could be delayed by two years if the Canada Energy Regulator does not allow a previously rejected request for a pipeline variance. Regulator denied Trans Mountain variance request due to pipeline safety concerns
The Canada Energy Regulator is citing safety concerns with the quality of materials Trans Mountain has procured to construct the variance, adding it doesn't believe the company has demonstrated it can guarantee an appropriate level of safety and pipeline integrity if it goes ahead with the change.

WA’s new wildfire smoke exposure rules for workers start Jan. 15
The Washington Department of Labor & Industries announced it will enforce new permanent wildfire smoke protections for outdoor workers starting Jan. 15, after two years of operating under emergency measures.

Debate intensifies over conservation of PNW’s old-growth forests
The fight over the future of the last old and mature forests in America intensified Tuesday when the Biden administration called for preservation of old-growth trees. The administration, after creating an inventory of the nation’s old growth, wants to amend 128 forest land-management plans to conserve and steward 25 million acres of old-growth forests and 68 million acres of mature forest across the national forest system.

Canada lays out plan to phase out sales of gas-powered cars, trucks by 2035
New regulations being published this week by Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault will effectively end sales of new passenger vehicles powered only by gasoline or diesel in 2035.

Analysis of Northwest, other salmon hatcheries finds nearly all hurt wild salmon populations
More than 200 studies across 40 years revealed large-scale salmon hatchery programs weaken wild salmon diversity and lead to wild population declines.

State finalizes new protections for Cascade River
The state Department of Ecology announced Monday that it will officially add protections to three rivers and one lake, classifying them as Outstanding Resource Waters. The four bodies of water include the upper watershed of the Cascade River in Skagit County, as well as the upper watershed of the Green River in Skamania County, the Napeequa River in Chelan County and Soap Lake in Grant County.

Toxic chemicals found in oil spills and wildfire smoke detected in killer whales
Toxic chemicals produced from oil emissions and wildfire smoke have been found in muscle and liver samples from Southern Resident killer whales and Bigg's killer whales. A study https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-45306-w published today in Scientific Reports is the first to find polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in orcas off the coast of British Columbia, as well as in utero transfer of the chemicals from mother to fetus.

In a major shift, Northwest tribes — not US officials — will control salmon recovery funds
The deal not only offers $1 billion in new funding for Columbia River salmon restoration, but for the first time it also grants states and tribes control — not the Bonneville Power Administration, which sells hydropower from Northwest dams — over how that money gets spent.

Two PNW tribal nations sue oil companies over costs of climate change
Major oil companies for decades deliberately sought to downplay and discredit scientific warnings about the central role of fossil fuels in causing climate change, alleges two lawsuits filed this week by the Makah and Shoalwater Bay tribes.


These news clips are a selection of weekday clips collected in Salish Sea News and Weather which is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe at no cost to the weekday news clips, send your name and email to mikesato772 at gmail.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate


Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.